


On the Water

by hashtagsalads



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Boats and Ships, Established Relationship, F/M, Happy Ending, Oneshot, POV Third Person Limited, SanSan Russian Roulette, Stranded, summer sansan russian roulette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 14:53:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hashtagsalads/pseuds/hashtagsalads
Summary: Sandor Clegane has always been a guarded man, never letting anyone too close. But now that he's been seeing Sansa Stark, he can feel that changing. To show her just how much she means to him, he's decided to take her to the one place he's never shown anyone before: his boat. All he wants is for the date to go perfectly, but the universe has other plans for the two of them, and a bit of misfortune leaves them in a sticky situation!





	On the Water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SuchaHag](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuchaHag/gifts), [mademoiselle_k](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mademoiselle_k/gifts).



> This is my fill for the Summer Sansan Russian Roulette organized by SuchaHag (l60014 on tumblr). Thanks so much for organizing this fun event!
> 
> The prompt I got was, "Sansan have been dating for some time. It has always been difficult for Sandor to let people in. But Sansa is special so he is bringing her to his boat for the first time. (Sansan first date in Sandor’s boat!)" from mademoiselle_k (mllekaren on tumblr) Thank you for the lovely prompt! It was fun to write. :)
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

The bright light of the morning sun roused Sandor from his peaceful slumber, an occurrence that was becoming more commonplace for him lately. Where before he would often be unable to sleep in, even on weekends like this one, he now found himself blinking away the brightness of the morning. He wanted to believe it was because he was finally learning how to relax, but he knew it had far more to do with the beautiful redhead who’d been sharing his bed than with any kind of self-actualization on his part.

In fact, she just so happened to have slept over the night before, and was currently kissing her way up his chest. Sandor cracked his eyes open and smiled sleepily at Sansa, saying, “Good morning, little bird.”

Sansa returned his smile with a grin of her own, saying, “Good morning to you, handsome.” Handsome. He resisted the urge to snort at her. She hated when he argued with her, especially when it came to how ugly he knew he was, a fact she was in total denial over.

Instead, Sandor swept her light frame up into his arms, pulling her in for a deep and tender kiss. She returned it with equal enthusiasm, and instantly he felt his cock stiffen. Normally, he’d let himself get lost in her, but today was different. Today was important. Today, she was going to see a side of Sandor she’d never seen before. Not that she was any the wiser of course. And that was why he needed to focus.

Regrettably, he pulled away, and said, “We should probably start to get ready if we want to make it out of town before the traffic hits.”

She pouted prettily and said, “Come on, I know you want to.” He felt Sansa’s hand start to drift below his waistline, but he grabbed her wrist before she could touch him. If she did, he wouldn’t be able to resist.

“As much as I want to, we’ve got to get going. But I’ll make it up to you later, I promise,” Sandor said, leaning in to kiss her once more to give her a taste of what was in store for her tonight, if all things went well.

When he pulled away, Sansa smiled at him again, this time dreamily, before saying, “Okay, fine. But only because I know you’re a man of your word.” And then she was off, hopping out of his bed and making her way to his shower like she’d lived there her whole life. He couldn’t help but appreciate the curves of her body as she walked away, still amazed that she’d found her way into his life at all. It was nothing short of a miracle and something he wasn’t going to take for granted.

After they’d finished getting ready and had their breakfast, they got into his Jeep and set off out of town, beating the traffic just as he’d hoped. Sansa fiddled with the radio for a while—something he’d never let anyone do, another testament to his deep affection for her—before she eventually spoke up, saying, “So, are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?”

Sandor smiled wryly and said, “Have some patience, little bird. I told you, it’s a surprise.”

“I know, I know! I’m just so excited I can’t wait! Ever since you told me a couple weeks ago that you were going to take me someplace special, I’ve been dying to find out,” Sansa said, moving impatiently in her seat.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Sandor said, giving her leg an affectionate pat. Hopefully it was worth the wait, he thought to himself, doubt creeping into his chest. Normally the dates they went on were ones he knew she would enjoy, but this time was going to be a little different. He’d gotten the feeling that there was something special about her when they’d started going out, and he’d been right. So, to show her how important she was becoming to him, Sandor had decided to take her someplace he’d never taken anyone: his boat, _The Stranger_.

After the accident that had left his face—and by extension his life—totally wrecked, he’d needed someplace to get away from everything. In a drunken haze, he spent the last of his savings on a modest boat to fix up, which wound up becoming his temporary home. It had been his lowest point, and he hadn’t been sure he’d ever recover. But, with the help of the boat, and an excellent therapist, he’d been able to pull himself up and out of the hole he’d dug himself.

It had been years since then, and now he was much better off, but he still couldn’t bring himself to upgrade or get rid of the boat. Sandor did his best to keep it up, making regular repairs and such, but time was a cruel mistress and _The Stranger_ certainly looked like it had seen better days. Even so, he still viewed it with great affection, knowing it had been his port in the shitstorm of life. Being able to work on it and make it his had been one of the biggest things to help get him through the trauma of the accident. The boat was his sacred space; his only hope was that Sansa could see it the way that he could.

He’d certainly done his best to make it more inviting. Sandor had worked painstakingly the previous afternoon, taking time off work to hang up string lights and decorate the cabin. He was a simple man who needed very little to survive, but Sansa liked creature comforts, and so he’d gone out and bought throw pillows, blankets, a table cloth, and so on, just to make the place feel a little homier for her. He’d also found an extremely expensive bottle of Dornish red just to sweeten the deal, along with chocolate covered strawberries and an assortment of cheeses and crackers, all of which were inside a meticulously organized picnic basket in his little fridge. Yes, he’d done everything he could to make the best impression possible. Sandor only hoped it was worth it.

Eventually, they pulled up to the marina where his boat was docked, Sandor parking in his usual spot and hopping out of the Jeep so he could help Sansa down.

As he took her smaller hand in his own, he watched her face carefully as she took in the sight before her. The marina was about in as good condition as his boat, another thing he probably should have changed. But he had a good relationship with the owners, and his sentimental heart wouldn’t let him leave.

Sansa didn’t say much, nor did her expression betray anything she might be feeling. Instead she looked around, eventually giving him a smile and his hand a squeeze, saying, “Well? Shall we?”

Sandor realized he needed to lead the way, and did so, not letting go of her hand in spite of the fact that his palms were starting to sweat. He didn’t realize just now nervous he’d be, but now that he was here his heart was hammering. Suddenly he was feeling very insecure about this whole plan, and tried to steel himself for her inevitable rejection.

Yet as their feet hit the dock and the smell of the ocean drifted into his nose, a sense of calm washed over him like the waves lapping underneath them. It was amazing how easily the sea could relax him even now that he’d moved into the city. It was almost like instinct, and with a new resolve, he led her to his boat with a bit more confidence in his step.

When the finally reached _The Stranger_ , he released her hand and stepped towards it, turning around and spreading his arms out, saying, “Welcome to my boat.”

Sansa’s blue eyes were wide as she took in the patched and worn hull that had seen its fair share of repairs over the years. Her lips were open in a small ‘o’ shape, and she looked as though she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. However, her inspection didn’t last long, and eventually her mouth curved into a smile as she turned to him and exclaimed, “You never told me you have a boat!”

“It’s not exactly something I share with most people. Well, anyone, actually,” Sandor replied uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck, “Let’s board, and then we can get our date started.”

Sandor expertly climbed up onto the deck and leaned down to give her a hand once more, pulling her up and leaning down to give her a quick kiss. In spite of his nerves, a part of him still was glad to share this safe space with her, even if she didn’t know its significance yet.

“I’ll give you a quick tour, and then I was thinking we could take it out on the water for a bit. There are usually dolphins out this time of year, so maybe we’ll see some. Then we can have lunch below deck, and head back. Sound good?” Sandor asked, hoping she’d be excited at the prospect of sailing.

Sansa nodded, still smiling, though he couldn’t tell if it was out of politeness or if she was really happy. Either way, he brought her to the cabin below where she complimented the decor, running her fingers along the surfaces and taking it all in. Just seeing her there was so alien yet so familiar at the same time. No one but him had ever been there before, and yet she still looked like she belonged here just as much as she did back at his apartment. It was as though she’d been there his whole life, and only now had made herself known to him.

Sandor’s thoughts were interrupted when she finally looked at him again and said, “It really is lovely.”

He couldn’t help but laugh a little. ‘Lovely’ wasn’t the right word, but she was being kind so he just said, “Thanks, I guess. You ready for me to take her out for a spin?”

“Absolutely! Let’s get going!” Sansa replied excitedly, making her way back to the deck above, him following behind.

It had been a little while, but it took him hardly any time to get back into the swing of things and soon enough they were cruising across the water. The sun shone brightly above them while a cool ocean breeze blew across the deck, making it the perfect summer day for sailing. It was beautiful, and Sandor was fully in his element now, finally feeling at home again.

That is, until the engine started sputtering, and it occurred to him that he’d forgotten one very important element to this excursion: filling up his fuel tank. Fuck.

“Is everything all right?” Sansa asked, appearing beside him, as the engine died and they slowed to a stop.

“Yeah, I just need to put some fuel in and then we should be good to go. Wait here and I’ll be back,” Sandor said, pushing his way below deck to where he kept his emergency fuel supply. He felt like an absolute ass, allowing them to run out, but tried not to let the embarrassment and frustration get to him.

Instead, he pulled open the supply closet with maybe a little more force than necessary and started digging around for the fuel can. Ever since he and Sansa had started dating, he’d been coming here less and less, which meant he’d been keeping it up less and less, so the normally organized storage space was in a bit of disarray. That also meant that the fuel can which usually had plenty was bone dry, since he’d used it up the last time he’d been out and about. Double fuck.

He resisted the urge to throw the can across the room, doing his best to use the calming techniques his therapist taught him. Slowly, he counted down from ten, taking deep breaths, then put the can back in its proper place while trying to figure out how to tell Sansa just how screwed they were. They were far enough out on the water that their cellphones had no signal. And he’d never bothered to outfit _The Stranger_ with a radio, which he now cursed himself for, so he had no idea how they were going to call for help.

At least it was a weekend. Plenty of people would be out and about. They’d just have to get someone’s attention.

With a sigh, Sandor turned to make his way back above, and found Sansa in the cabin. “You were taking a while, so I just wanted to see if I could help out,” she explained when he looked startled to see her.

“Yeah, about that,” Sandor said, trying to keep his voice even, “It looks like we may be stranded here.”

“Stranded? There’s no more fuel?” Sansa asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

He knew intellectually that she wasn’t actually saying he was irresponsible, but it certainly felt that way, so without thinking, he snapped and said, “Yes, stranded with no fuel, that’s what I said.”

Sansa looked as though she’d been slapped in the face. It was probably the first time he’d ever actually been impatient with her, and the guilt he felt was immediate and powerful, coiling around his heart like a vise. He went over to her quickly and wrapped her up in a tight hug, saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bite your head off. I’m just stressed.”

He felt her nod into his chest, and Sandor pulled back to look at her face. She still seemed a bit upset, so he leaned down and kissed her softly, saying when they pulled apart, “Really, I’m sorry. Please, forgive me.”

“Okay, okay. I understand. I would be stressed out, too,” Sansa replied kindly, finally smiling at him once more, “So, what are we going to now?”

“Now, I need to go drop anchor before we drift anymore. Then, we’ll just have to wait until someone comes by and flag them down,” Sandor said with a sigh, adding, “Shouldn’t be too long, though. There’ll probably be plenty of people out on a day like today.”

As sure as he was about his prediction, it turned out that Sandor was woefully wrong. Once he’d ensured that the boat was properly anchored, he and Sansa sat on the deck in the bright sunshine, waiting for just one person to drive by. However, it seemed this marina was much less popular than it had been a few years back, and not a soul showed up while they waited. Time seemed to drag on as the heat from the sun beat down on their backs, making Sandor in particular very uncomfortable. At first, they’d chatted amicably, but as he became hotter—and probably more sun burnt—the conversation dried up, a dark cloud overtaking them.

Suddenly, in the distance, he could hear the sound of a boat motoring by, and Sansa and Sandor stood quickly, waving their hands and shouting as loudly as they could. However, it seemed whoever was in the boat was too far to hear them over the sound of the engine, and they passed by without stopping. And that was the tipping point for Sandor.

“Gods be damned!” he cursed loudly, throwing his baseball cap to the floor, “Can’t one fucking thing go right today?”

Sandor heard a soft gasp, and he turned to see Sansa covering her mouth with both her hands, her eyes wide. This was the only time he’d ever totally lost his temper in front of her, another unfortunate first for them today. She looked almost scared of him, and he was so ashamed he could no longer face her. Without another word, he took off down to the cabin with the intention to spend the rest of his life there, since he was clearly incapable of being civilized.

After a little while, he heard soft footsteps behind him, and then Sansa was sitting across from him at the little table within the cabin. When she didn’t say anything, he sighed heavily and looked up at her, saying, “I’m sorry. Really, I am. I never wanted you to see that side of me, but here we are, I guess.”

“I didn’t even know that side of you existed,” Sansa said, her face a mixture of concern and apprehension, “You’re very good at hiding it.”

“I wasn’t hiding it exactly. More controlling it, using stuff that I learned in therapy,” Sandor confessed, hoping she wouldn’t be put off.

Her brows knit together in confusion as she questioned, “Therapy? You never told me that you were seeing a counselor.”

“That’s not exactly something you tell someone on the first date, you know? But now that we’ve been seeing each other more seriously, I wanted you to know everything. That’s why I brought you out here,” Sandor began, watching Sansa become even more anxious, “Have you ever wondered how I got my scars?”

“Oh, Sandor, you don’t have to tell me—” Sansa started, holding her hands up.

“I want to tell you,” Sandor interrupted, “It was years ago now. A stupid accident at the chemical plant I worked for. I wasn’t wearing my safety gear, there was an explosion, and, well, you can imagine.” He gestured at the scars that took over half his face and had completely melted one of his ears, continuing, “Truth be told, I got off lucky, all things considered, but I still became a completely different person after. I was angry, depressed, resentful. I got into a lot of fights, was drunk all the time. I completely shut down and almost ruined my whole life. The only thing that got me through was this boat. Well, that, and my therapist. But mostly it was _The Stranger_ here that kept me afloat, if you’ll excuse the pun. This was actually my home for a time after I quit working and lost everything.”

Sandor watched as tears formed in her eyes, and he reached over, grabbing her hands and saying, “You don’t have to cry for me. It was a different time, and now, as you can see, my life is so much better. A big part of that is thanks to you. I care about you so much, Sansa, and I want you to know everything about me, the good and the bad. I just hope that you can understand, and that you’ll still feel the same way about me after all this.”

She was silent for a moment, before standing up and coming over to him so she could wrap her arms around him. It was a little awkward in the small space, but he didn’t mind, pulling her down so that she was in his lap. Sansa sat up, tears on her face now, and said, “Oh Sandor, I’m so sorry that happened to you. It sounds just awful. But I want you to know that nothing you can tell me about yourself is going to change how I feel about you. I love you, Sandor Clegane, and I’m not going anywhere.”

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. So far, neither of them had said the big ‘L’ word yet, so this was another first of many on this trip. Waves of emotion rolled over him as he put one hand on the back of her head and brought her in for a heated kiss. It took very little time for things to turn more passionate, and soon their tongues were tangling together as his hands roamed over her body.

Not wanting to be apart from her a second longer, Sandor wrapped an arm around her waist and carried her into the small bedroom, which was mostly just a bed with a couple cabinets above it. Sansa giggled as he plopped her down onto the soft surface, before climbing on top of her with the intent to show her just how much he loved her back.

They’d managed to strip down to their underwear, when Sandor heard an insistent knocking coming from above deck. His first instinct was to ignore the sound, instead choosing to focus on kissing Sansa’s neck and the tops of her breasts. It was only when she tugged on his hair and said, “I think help is finally here,” that he remembered they were, in fact, still stranded.

Scrambling to put on pants, he half-tripped his way up the stairs and threw open the cabin door. Two figures stood above him, clad in life vests and uniforms. The coast guard. Thank fuck.

“We received a report from a concerned citizen who says he saw a couple of people trying to flag down his boat. You wouldn’t happen to be in trouble, would you?” the first one asked, looking down at Sandor.

“I dunno, he looks fine to me,” the second person said with a grin, likely due to Sandor’s disheveled appearance.

“Actually, we’re stranded. Ran out of fuel. Do you have any extra?” he asked, cutting to the chase. After all, he had Sansa to get back to.

“Sure do. We’ll get you filled up and let you get back to, uh, whatever it was you were doing before we so rudely interrupted,” the second one said, still grinning at him.

It didn’t take long, and once it was all taken care of, with thank you’s being said and fuel being dispensed, Sandor quickly made his way back to where Sansa was waiting for him below deck. She was still scantily clad, much to his pleasure, and he slid into bed beside her, pulling her close once more. “We’ve been rescued. I guess the person who drove by earlier saw us after all,” Sandor told her.

“Thank the Seven,” Sansa said with a relieved sigh, “Should we head back, then, or pick up where we left off?” He could tell from her tone that she was just as eager as he was to continue their previous activities.

“Definitely pick up where we left off,” Sandor said, adding, “There’s just one thing I need to do first.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Sansa asked, clearly puzzled.

“Tell you that I love you, too. Because I do, little bird. I love you more than anything,” he told her sincerely. He’d thought it would be harder to say the words, emotions never coming easily to him, but it wasn’t hard at all. In fact, loving Sansa and letting her know was one of the easiest things he’d ever done.

Her eyes welled up with emotion as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him in for a kiss. They spent the rest of the afternoon making love and enjoying the Dornish red and strawberries he’d bought. Even though so many things had gone awry, the day turned out better than he’d ever expected, and if he could go back in time, Sandor wouldn’t change a thing.


End file.
